UM Biology Professor Talks Caribou Mgmt
By Moosetrack Megan
Wildlife biology professor Mark Hebblewhite published a letter in Science magazine on Nov. 9 stating that “Despite legislation, Canada has failed to protect its boreal woodland caribou.”
Boreal caribou have been listed as endangered by the Canadian government since 2003. Hebblewhite and other scientists have provided research identifying critical habitat for 1 million square kilometers in 51 caribou ranges across Canada. The results were integrated into a National Recovery Strategy in 2012.
Hebblewhite’s letter can be found at http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6364/730.1.
Hebblewhite and co-author Daniel Fortin from Universite Laval in Quebec call on the Trudeau government to abide by its own environmental laws and set a clear and rapid pathway to effective protection and recovery of caribou across Canada.
Hebblewhite has conducted research since 2007 across the southern mountain ecotype of woodland caribou in Alberta and British Columbia and the Boreal woodland ecotype across Alberta to contribute to caribou recovery efforts. He has examined the links between human activities and caribou conservation to promote sustainable development and species recovery.
